Mount Holyoke College - Llamarada Yearbook (South Hadley, MA)

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fear of what she might do next? Of a truth she did ask the gods themselves to dine with her! Surely there be that can predict the course of a curve though it pass through the center of tl1e infinite, but who shall foretell the action of a Freshman class? Did I not stay with her, O Mother of Many, through the next year when there were none but did deride? Yea, the force of custom is mighty but the self assurance of a Sophomore class stoppeth at naught. Canst thou not remember how she and her older sister- fmay all good blessings be upon tl1e departedlj-did unite in saying that there could be no friendly rivalry between them, therefore there should be none? Long did I urge her to consider that competition might exist without strife and much did she struggle with herself, but it was written that my counsel should fall as seed upon the des- ert. But I withdrew not from her and I was with her afterwards on that night when she was roused from her slumbers to breathe smoke and to learn the odor of burning feathers. Did I desert her even when the man at 'l'itan's Pier-fmay he drink his own soda and may tl1e flavor of his own peppermints abide with himlj-demanded mon- ey, because verily he owned the view? Great and mysterious are tl1e rights of property and far be it from me to counsel disrespect thereunto. O Eye of the Valley, hast thou no word for me that I did weary my soul last year over thy children? Surely they would fain have passed through the fire and the mud amid oil stoves and dust with- out murmuring, but, Mighty Mother, thou knowest that discornforts of the flesh do grievously vex the spirit, and truly her murmurs were few. Canst thou not recall how thy child would have been gay and clid endeavor to make merry her youngest sister with candy prepared in her presence and maize whitened by the flame of the fire? May the stoves which she used perish from the earth and be cast into pits, for their heat was as that of a tallow candle and their usefulness as naught! Corn that cannot be eaten may be given to the crows, and molasses that pleaseth not the palate may be rejected, but to fail of one's expectations is as the bitterness of the buck busl1. Did she not also in this year of confusion, blessed be the ending thereof, spend her time and thought over pageants and vain Shows for love of what they would bring tl1at she might have that which would purchase ice cream and satisfy the greed of musicians who 30 ,

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if 1,4 Xt, W V I C . 'E y . Great is Class Spirit, but the Power of College Spirit Who can Measure? fi' FOSTIQRING MOTHER, long have I wandered with thy child and alas I am sore and weary! To the driver of cattle or the tiller of soil there cometh rest, but verily whoso traineth children must be wakeful ever. Didst thou not give her to me when first she came to thee, with the word that though her unripeness was as that of the persimmon before the frost hath touched it, yet didst thou hope much from her? With what childish innocence did she prepare for her journey, scornfully rejecting the cry which one who accounted herself of great worth because of her size and years did offer, Stand up straight, p Stand up straiglit, Holyoke, Holvoke, '98! . and choosing a combination which should display wondrous learn- ing, while she proclaimed in song tl1at she was full of grace. Did I not cling to her when my heart was oft made cold with 29

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will be paid for the very breath they blow into their instruments? Canst thou forget that though tl1e air was chilled until ice cream was as water to a drowning man and though music and moonlight can charm but little one whose Hesh is blue with cold, yet was thy daughter merry? And then, O Fostering Mother, dost thou recall the night when her older sister left thee and this thy daughter sadly and gladly re- ceived from her tl1e robe which none but the Senior may wear and claimed the place of honor upon the steps which lead into thy halls and from which she must pass alone into the world? Tears tl1ere were shed that night but they were not of bitterness. Thus far, O Kindly Parent, have I brought thy daughter. I I shall lead no more of thy children by just this path, but there shall be briers and blossoms for all. I may be no more constantly with this thy child, but if ever she forget me-may the day be blotted from the calendar! Take her, O Fostering Mother, and give her of the skin of the sheep, for verily she hath deserved, this of thee. , V J . :W ii V, fx rx- - .Sunil ,-Q' ' ,A , Y .- 31